English Original
There was a village where everyone was rich except for one poor man, known as the little peasant. He had no cow and no money to buy one, but he and his wife longed for one.
One day, he had an idea. He asked the carpenter to make a wooden calf, painted brown to look real, with its head down as if eating. His wife agreed. The next morning, the little peasant told the cow-herd his calf was too small to walk, so the cow-herd carried it to the pasture. All day, the wooden calf stood as if eating. At night, the cow-herd, not wanting to carry it back, left it. When the little peasant found it missing, he accused the cow-herd of losing it. The mayor ordered the cow-herd to give the peasant a real cow as compensation.
The couple were overjoyed but had no food for the cow, so they had to kill it. The peasant took the skin to town to sell it. On the way, he found a wounded raven and wrapped it in the skin. A storm forced him to seek shelter at a mill. The miller's wife gave him bread and cheese and let him sleep on straw. Soon, the parson arrived for a secret feast with the wife. Hearing this, the peasant pretended to sleep.
Suddenly, the miller returned. His wife hid the feast: wine under a pillow, roast meat in the stove, salad on the bed, cakes under it, and the parson in a cupboard. She told her husband she only had bread and cheese. The miller invited the peasant to join them.
After eating, the miller noticed the skin. The peasant claimed it contained a soothsayer that could reveal four things. He pinched the raven, making it croak, and "translated" its sounds to reveal the hidden wine, meat, salad, and cakes. The terrified wife went to bed. The miller, curious about the fifth prophecy, paid the peasant three hundred thalers. The peasant then said the soothsayer warned of the Devil in the cupboard. The miller opened it, and the parson ran out, mistaken for the Devil. The peasant left at dawn with the money.
With his new wealth, the little peasant built a fine house. The villagers, suspicious, brought him before the mayor. He claimed he got rich by selling a cow's skin for three hundred thalers. Greedy, the villagers killed their own cows to sell the skins but received very little. Enraged, they accused the peasant of trickery. He was sentenced to death by drowning in a barrel full of holes.
As he was led to the water, he recognized the priest as the parson from the mill. He whispered, "I freed you from the cupboard; now free me from the barrel." Then, seeing a shepherd who wanted to be mayor, the peasant cried out that he refused to become mayor by getting in the barrel. The shepherd, eager for the position, offered to take his place. The peasant agreed, sealed the shepherd in the barrel, and took his flock.
The villagers rolled the barrel into the water. Later, the peasant returned with the sheep, claiming he found a land of sheep at the river bottom. The villagers, believing him, jumped in to get their own sheep and drowned. The little peasant, as the sole survivor, inherited the entire village and became rich.
中文翻译
有一个村庄，除了一户穷人，其他都是富农。这个穷人被称为小农夫。他没有牛，也买不起，但他和妻子非常渴望拥有一头。
一天，他想了个主意。他请木匠做了一个木制牛犊，漆成棕色，头低垂着仿佛在吃草。他的妻子同意了。第二天早上，小农夫告诉牧牛人他的牛犊太小还不会走，于是牧牛人把它抱到了牧场。一整天，木牛犊都站着像在吃草。晚上，牧牛人不想再抱它回去，就把它留下了。小农夫发现牛犊不见了，便指责牧牛人弄丢了它。村长判决牧牛人赔偿小农夫一头真牛。
夫妇俩很高兴，但没有饲料喂牛，只好把它杀了。农夫带着牛皮去镇上卖。路上，他捡到一只受伤的乌鸦，便把它裹在牛皮里。一场暴风雨迫使他到一座磨坊避难。磨坊主的妻子给了他面包和奶酪，让他在干草上睡觉。不久，牧师来了，准备和女主人秘密享用盛宴。农夫听到后，假装睡着了。
突然，磨坊主回来了。他的妻子匆忙藏起盛宴：酒藏在枕头下，烤肉藏在瓷砖炉里，沙拉藏在床上，蛋糕藏在床下，牧师则藏在门廊的橱柜里。她告诉丈夫只有面包和奶酪。磨坊主邀请农夫一起吃。
吃完后，磨坊主注意到了那张皮。农夫声称里面有个预言家，能揭示四件事。他捏了捏乌鸦，让它发出“呱呱”声，然后“翻译”这些声音，依次揭示了藏起来的酒、肉、沙拉和蛋糕。吓坏了的妻子躲上了床。磨坊主对第五个预言很好奇，付给农夫三百塔勒。农夫接着说预言家警告魔鬼藏在橱柜里。磨坊主打开橱柜，牧师跑了出来，被误认为是魔鬼。农夫天亮时带着钱离开了。
有了这笔新财富，小农夫盖了一所好房子。村民们起了疑心，把他带到村长面前。他声称自己是通过卖牛皮赚了三百塔勒才富起来的。贪婪的村民们杀了自己的牛去卖皮，但只得到很少的钱。他们勃然大怒，指控小农夫欺诈。他被判处死刑——塞进一个满是洞的桶里淹死。
在被押往水边的路上，他认出牧师就是磨坊里的那个。他低声说：“我把你从橱柜里放了出来；现在把我从桶里放出来吧。”接着，他看到一个想当村长的牧羊人，便大声喊叫，说他拒绝为了当村长而钻进桶里。牧羊人渴望这个职位，主动提出代替他。农夫同意了，把牧羊人封进桶里，然后赶走了他的羊群。
村民们把桶滚进了水里。后来，小农夫赶着羊群回来了，声称他在河底发现了一个满是羊的地方。村民们信以为真，纷纷跳进水里想捞羊，结果都淹死了。小农夫作为唯一的幸存者，继承了整个村庄，变得非常富有。